Partnering with an agency should feel like a natural extension of your team from day one. However, we understand that bringing together creative minds from both sides can sometimes feel like having too many cooks in the kitchen, making it tricky to strike the perfect balance. To help you build a strong, collaborative relationship, our Head of Key Accounts, Juliet, shares her top three strategies that work towards a productive, long-term partnership that delivers outstanding employer brand results as we head into 2025.
1. The key is in the brief
Effective integration starts with the brief, it’s the foundation for success. To get the most innovative and unexpected solutions from your agency, it’s essential to go beyond simply outlining the desired outcome or prescribing what you think the response should be. Instead, share the full scope of your business challenge or opportunity, providing as much depth and clarity as possible.
When you clearly define the problem, you empower your agency to think creatively and strategically, uncovering cross-channel solutions that you may not have considered.
This is where the magic happens.
When an external creative partner can bring fresh perspectives, challenge assumptions, and deliver innovative ideas that elevate your strategy.
“By trusting your agency with the big picture, you unlock their full potential to deliver impactful results and ensure a seamless, value-driven partnership.”
2. Ways of working
Shifting the mindset from a traditional “them and us” agency dynamic to a more collaborative approach is key. Practical steps, like establishing shared spaces and processes, can significantly enhance integration and bring together a more seamless partnership.
Another critical way to unlock the full potential of an integrated agency is by sharing business context.
How does your company make decisions? How are ideas evaluated and approved? What data is essential for stakeholder management? How do your teams prefer presentations or workshops to be delivered?
These are often overlooked areas, but understanding how your company thinks, feels, and takes action is invaluable for an agency. It enables them to better align with your internal processes, unite stakeholders, and bring different marketing functions together behind a cohesive programme.
From the agency side, agility is just as crucial. While central teams are essential for overseeing delivery, it’s equally important to deploy the right experts with the right skills at the right time. With expertise spanning media, creative, and production, we’ve been able to step into diverse areas where our clients need tailored support, driving impactful results through a truly integrated approach.
3. Create an appetite internally
Ensure your teams are aligned and communicating effectively with one another before engaging with your agency. Bringing the right stakeholders to the table early and ensuring they’re actively contributing upfront rather than mid-process is key to a shared ambition and a unified way of working.
Empower a single project leader to oversee and drive the process forward. This central figure can facilitate rapid decision-making, promote transparency, and create the agility needed to bring in specialists at the right moments as the work evolves. By aligning your internal teams and establishing clear leadership, you’ll create a collaborative environment that accelerates progress and maximises the impact of your agency partnership.
As we move into 2025, agencies and businesses that work together as true partners will be best positioned to navigate challenges, seize opportunities, and achieve exceptional employer brand results. When you invest in aligning your teams, sharing context, and empowering collaboration, your agency becomes not just a service provider, but a strategic partner that helps drive meaningful impact for your business.
If you’re working with an agency in 2025, use these three tips to maximise that all-important ROI.
